Pope John Paul II By joe1515 May 18, 1920 Karol Jozef Wojtyla was born Period: May 18, 1920 to Apr 2, 2005 Pope John Paul II Nov 1, 1948 Ordained as a priest. Jun 28, 1967 Elected as a cardinal by Pope Paul VI Oct 16, 1978 Elected as successor to Pope John Paul I May 13, 1981 Pope John Paul II is shot in the abdomen Sep 29, 1983 The Pope calls for the Soviet Union and the U.S. national governments to negotiate an end to the arms race Jul 15, 1992 Undergoes surgery on colon Feb 4, 2003 Pope tries to help avert war in Iraq Feb 1, 2005 Pope is rushed to hospital with the flu Apr 2, 2005 Pope John Paul II dies at age 84